Gas-engine.



Patented Dec. 2, I902 v J. HIRST. GAS ENGINE. (Application med ont; 19,m01.)

(No Model.) I

A. El?

`UNiTED STATES ATENT FFICE JOSEPH HIRST, OF NEW LONDON, CONNECTICUT.

GAS-ENGINE.

SPECIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 714,799, dated December2, 1902.

Application filed October 19, 1901. Serial No. 79.266. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern,.-

Beit known that I, JOSEPH HIRST, a citizen of the United States,residing at New London, in the county of New London and State ofConnecticut, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements inGas-Engines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

The chief object of this invention is to provide extremely cheap andeifective mechanism for use in gasolene and` the like engines, wherebythe force of successive explosions in` a multiple of cylinders may betransmitted to the constantly-revolving shaft, the novel arrangement ofsaid mechanism being such that space is economized and power conserved.

My said improvement is specially valuablefor use in connection withmarine engines, but may also be used with advantage in stationaryengines.

In order to explain my said improvement most clearly, I have annexedhereto a sheet of drawings illustrating those portions of a four-cycleengine that relate to and embody my present improvements.

Figure 1 is an elevation of that portion of a gasolene-engine in whichthe pistons are located, showing also in proper relation thereto thedriven shaft and my improved means for transmitting motion from thepistons to the said shaft. In this figure a considerable portion of thecasing within which the pistons operate is broken away to show theinterior parts. Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the same parts,taken on line 2 2 of Fig.'1.

Inasmuch as my improvements relate only to the arrangement of thepower-cylinders and the axial center of the driven shaft.

`in the drawings.) Mounted on shaft .c within the said housing is a gearc', and upon the exposed end of the shaft is a hand-wheel c2. Within thehousing d are also pinion-gears e, here shown as four in number, thatmesh with the gear c' and are mounted on studs e', that are journaled inbosses formed on the said housing.

In axial alinement with the studs e are shafts g, also journaled in thehousing and havingsecured to theirinner ends crank-disks h, each diskbeing connected with the confronting pinion c by a crank-pin h', as isbest seen in Fig. 2. The pinions e, as already stated, are in mesh withthe gear c', and they are so disposed with relation to the pistons thatthey may be connected with said pistons by connecting-rods b. Thepistons of a fourcycle engine embodying the described mechanism may beset to operate in pairs, as here illustrated, or they may be set atquarters, so as to operate upon the driven shaft in succession, thusovercoming dead-centers.

One of the advantages which the described arrangement of pistons andcrank mechanism has over the commonly-used engines in which the pistonsare arranged in a line parallel with the driven shaft and connecteddirectly thereto by cranks is in the obvious economy of space,particularly when used as a marine engine.

Heretofore this class of engines have been arranged with the pistons andpower-cylinders running fore and aft of the boat; but my new arrangementof driving mechanism, as described, arranges said pistons and cylinderstransversely to the length of the screwshaft, and thus renders itpossible and practicable to shorten said shaft somewhat and to locatethe engine nearer the screw, thus increasing correspondingly the openspace or seating capacity of the boat.

Having thus described my invention, 'I claim- In a gas-engine, thecombination of .a driven shaft, a Water-jacketed casing, parallelcylinders therein, pistons in said cylinders and all disposed in a linetransverse to the axial center of said shaft, a housing, a gear onsaidshaft within the housing, a wheel on the eX- tended end of the shaft,gears within the ICO housing all meshing with the gear on the pin anddisposed between the crank-disk and Io shaft and all disposed above thehorizontal gear, allsubstantially as shown and described. axial centerof the shaft and mounted on Signed at lNew London, Connecticut, thisstuds journaled in bosses on said housing, 7th day of October, 1901.

shafts in axial line with said studs and also journaled in said housing,crank-disks on the JOSEPH HIRST' ends of said shafts, a crank-pin oneach disk, Witnesses:

connecting each disk to the confronting gear, FRANK H. ALLEN,

and a rod connecting each piston with a crank- MAY F. RITCHIE.

